After delivering a child, the first and the most important responsibility of a mother is to feed the little baby. Breastfeeding has pretty amazing benefits for the baby but it can be tough for some moms to master the skill. Many of us face problems in the beginning but things fall quite in place with time. If you have issues initially, don’t quit right away. It gets easier with time and remember, practice is the key!
We are here with some expert advice to deal with common breastfeeding issues.
1. Start it with day 1: Hold and cuddle your baby right after the delivery and start breastfeeding right after then. Babies have high sense of touch, smell and sight in the first hour right after their birth. They are wired to find the breast. And when they are allowed to do so, they latch on pretty well and start having their first meal.
2. Do the research beforehand : You are going to be highly exhausted right after the birth. It’s not exactly a great time to start learning something new. So keep yourself up to date with the knowledge of nursing. Read about it and talk to moms who are already a pro in it. Also keeo the information about lactation consultants, breastfeeding moms club and nursing resources handy.
3. Learn the hunger cues : Learn and respond to baby’s early hunger cues. When your baby is chewing on his hands or making mouth motions or turning heada from side to side, means he is hungry and wants to feed. When you respond to these cues, baby continues to do it when he is hungry and you can feed him before he starts crying. Once baby starts crying, he gets mad and hungry which makes it difficult to breastfeed him.
4. The skin to skin touch : Going skin to skin with your little one makes it easy for both of you to connect effectively. Place your unclothed baby on your bare chest when she is fussy. Cover up with a blanket. This close contact will calm her and trigger her feeding instincts.
5. Practice Pumping : If you are schedules to resume working, start pumping a couple of weeks ago. Use breast pumps and pump out milk for your baby in morning hours as it is the time when milk supply is the greatest. You can also pump on one side when the baby is nursing on the other. This will help you stock up enough milk to keep your baby full throughout the day.
6. Fix those engorged breasts : Hard and tight breasts make things a little challenging for your little one. Engorgment occurs few days after birth and is really painful for both the mother and the baby. It goes away naturally but if your baby has a hard time to latch on, express or pump the extra milk to make things soft for your baby.
7. Watch things closely : Breast feeding never hurts, but if you are having pain or if baby isn’t wetting enough diapers call the local hospital or your doctor’s office asap. It’s important to find out the issues as quickly as possible.
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